Category: Movies

L. Neil Smith’s The Probability Broach: The Prometheus winner that one Best Novel judge dreams of seeing on screen someday


By Michael Grossberg

It’s relatively rare for a Prometheus-winning work of pro-freedom science fiction or fantasy to be adapted into a movie or for television. But that happened this year, with the recent 2026 release of an animated film of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, inducted in 2011 into the Prometheus Hall of Fame.

While the misconceived third film version of Orwell’s anti-authoritarian and anti-communist classic fable proved disappointing, our hopes remain high for more Prometheus-winning novels or stories to be filmed – and some are already in the works.

Meanwhile, sparked by this year’s film release, I asked Libertarian Futurist Society members I work with as fellow Best Novel judges which Prometheus-winning works they’d like to see on screen.

Adam Tuchman’s top choice is The Probability Broach, L. Neil Smith’s alternate-history SF novel that won the 1982 Best Novel award.

Continue reading L. Neil Smith’s The Probability Broach: The Prometheus winner that one Best Novel judge dreams of seeing on screen someday


Richard Salman’s unusually insightful review of the flawed new Animal Farm film illuminates George Orwell’s thinking and goals in writing his 1945 satirical fable


By Michael Grossberg

Of the many reviews of the flawed new film version of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, perhaps the most insightful is one that broadens its critique to examine Orwell himself.

Richard M. Salsman, an economist and visiting assistant professor of political economy at Duke University, goes deeper than most other writers in contextualizing Andy Serkis’ widely panned animated film version.

With disturbing clarity, Salsman explains how Orwell’s evolving views led him to reverse his initial conception of Animal Farm as a critique of capitalism – but also how the British democratic socialist remained faithful to some of his deepest underlying assumptions.

This is a powerfully illuminating review and essay that deserves to be read in full at The Daily Economy, a publication of the American Institute for Economic Research.

But I also want to highlight some of Salman’s key insights, because they are so relevant to the themes and world view that shape the Prometheus Awards.

Continue reading Richard Salman’s unusually insightful review of the flawed new Animal Farm film illuminates George Orwell’s thinking and goals in writing his 1945 satirical fable


The Man in the White Suit: One of the great libertarian film comedies – with a sci-fi premise


By Michael Grossberg

Before he became best known to younger generations as Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars, British actor Alec Guinness was known in part for his comedies.

Guinness made his name in six Ealing Studios film comedies between 1949 and 1957, most notably playing eight characters in Kind Hearts and Coronets and lead roles in The Ladykillers, The Lavender Hill Mob and The Man in the White Suit. The latter film, released in 1951, has a deserved reputation as one of the great movie comedies of its era. It also happens to be both libertarian and individualist in its wry themes.

Not only that: The Man in the White Suit has an ingenious plot whose premise is clearly science fiction, making the film of even greater interest to the Libertarian Futurist Society.

Continue reading The Man in the White Suit: One of the great libertarian film comedies – with a sci-fi premise


How many Prometheus winners have reached the screen? More than you might realize!


By Michael Grossberg

Of the 104 works of fiction that have won a Prometheus Award, 15 have been adapted into movies (sometimes more than once.)

Plus, two other Prometheus winners were conceived for and originated on screen – one as a feature film and the other as a TV series.

Thus, 17 Prometheus winners can be seen on the large or small screens.

That represents about 15 percent of all the Prometheus-winning works recognized since the award was first presented in 1979.  Not a bad quotient, perhaps, but it certainly would be nice to see more of our recognized novels and stories raise their visibility and thereby find larger audiences.

So which works have reached the screen?

Just for fun or out of curiosity, before reading further, why not visit the Prometheus Awards page listing all the past winners and see how many you can recall that have had film or TV adaptations?

Hint: There’s more than you realize!

Continue reading How many Prometheus winners have reached the screen? More than you might realize!


Orwell’s Animal Farm falls disappointingly short in new animated film version that distorts its anti-authoritarian themes


By Michael Grossberg

When it comes to film versions of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the third time’s not the charm.

With visionary director-actor Andy Serkis at the helm of the recently released animated film version of Orwell’s classic anti-authoritarian fable and a host of great actors doing the voices of the farm animals, I’d hoped for the best for Animal Farm, inducted in 2011 into the Prometheus Hall of Fame.

Seth Rogen, Gaten Matarazzo, Glenn Close, Woody Harrelson, Kieran Culkin, Steve Buscemi, Kathleen Turner, Laverne Cox and Jim Parsons are among the actors voicing the animal characters in the story about pigs consolidating control on a farm in a movement for equality that is systematically corrupted.

Yet, Serkis’ long-in-gestation 2025 film, finally released in the U.S. in May 2026, has proved to be a major disappointment.

Continue reading Orwell’s Animal Farm falls disappointingly short in new animated film version that distorts its anti-authoritarian themes


Why the visionary and darkly satirical film Brazil, co-written by the late great Tom Stoppard, deserves a Prometheus nomination next year

By Michael Grossberg

This seems the right moment to take a fresh look at Brazil, one of the greatest dystopian science fiction visions of our era – and also one of the most libertarian.

Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, the film is one of the most widely seen and arguably among the most enduring works of the avowed libertarian Tom Stoppard, the internationally acclaimed Czech-British playwright and screenwriter who died recently at 88.

Released in 1985, the film was directed by Terry Gilliam and co-written by Gilliam, Stoppard and Charles McKeown.

Continue reading Why the visionary and darkly satirical film Brazil, co-written by the late great Tom Stoppard, deserves a Prometheus nomination next year

Sequels, part 11: Unlike literary sequels, movie sequels and genre films don’t get as much respect at the Oscars, but that may be changing


By Michael Grossberg

Movie sequels seem to be more common and more popular than ever in the 21st century, often dominating at the box office. Yet, they just don’t get as much respect or awards recognition as literary sequels.

Far fewer sequels have won Academy Awards than have been recognized by science fiction and fantasy’s Hugo and Prometheus awards.

Just consider how few movie sequels have won the Oscar for Best Picture compared to how often sequel novels win a top SF/fantasy award.

Within the 46-year history of the Prometheus Awards, 194 of the 505 novels nominated within the Best Novel category have been sequels – and 11 have gone on to win.

Meanwhile, as recently reported here, nine sequel novels have won the Best Novel category in the 72-year history of the Hugo Awards, voted by members of the World Science Fiction Society and presented annually at the Worldcon.

Yet, in the 97 years that the Academy Awards have been presented, only two movie sequels have won Best Picture: The Godfather Part II and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Intriguingly, both movies were key parts of the only trilogies or series to have three films nominated for Best Picture, perhaps partly reflecting the stature and impact of the overall effort.

And perhaps coincidentally, both movies dramatize libertarian and classical-liberal themes about the temptations and abuses of power.

Continue reading Sequels, part 11: Unlike literary sequels, movie sequels and genre films don’t get as much respect at the Oscars, but that may be changing


Apple TV’s entertaining adaptation of Wells’ Murderbot stories reflects their libertarian themes of free will, anti-slavery and bodily autonomy

By Michael Grossberg

It’s not that often that a Prometheus-award-recognized novel or story is adapted to the large or small screen.

So it’s newsworthy, as well as something of a relief, to report that the Apple TV+ new streaming series of Murderbot is pretty entertaining.

Martha Wells’ Murderbot stories and novels have won Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards, and have been nominated for the Prometheus Award, where her first set of novellas was recognized as a Best Novel finalist. So hopes were high for the TV series, which began streaming in May.

Based on the suspenseful and intelligent half-hour episodes of its first season, Apple TV’s series seems faithful to Well’s acclaimed series of novellas and novels about a rogue security robot who secretly gains free will.

Continue reading Apple TV’s entertaining adaptation of Wells’ Murderbot stories reflects their libertarian themes of free will, anti-slavery and bodily autonomy

Prometheus finalist Three Body Problem inspires two TV series with a classic sf “sense of wonder”

The Three-Body Problem, a 2015 Prometheus Best Novel finalist and landmark international bestseller by Chinese sf novelist Liu Cixin, has now inspired not one but two TV series worth watching.

Three Body, available free with Amazon Prime, is a 30-episode Chinese series. Netflix also has tackled its own TV-series adaptation of Cixin’s epic novel with a recent eight-episode first season.

Leading libertarian thinker Virginia Postrel has praised both TV series as good SF, along with the English translation of the novel.

“All three versions produce the sense of wonder that is science fiction’s—especially hard science fiction’s—traditional appeal. The stories take place on a grand scale and are propelled by mind-expanding scientific ideas,” Postrel wrote in her “Virginia’s Newsletter” Substack column on “3 Three Body Problems and the Appeal of Science Fiction.”

Continue reading Prometheus finalist Three Body Problem inspires two TV series with a classic sf “sense of wonder”

The Best of the Blog: Three 2023 posts worth remembering (and rereading)

By Michael Grossberg

Although 2023 has ended, it’s interesting and illuminating to look back at the highlights of the past year – and perhaps read an article that you may have overlooked. For the Prometheus Blog, there were quite a few memorable posts.

Robert Heinlein (Photo courtesy of the Heinlein Trust)

Among my personal favorites:

* author Karl Gallagher’s tribute to Robert Heinlein and appreciation for his 2023 Hall of Fame winner, “Free Men.”

* William H. Stoddard’s illuminating essay on “Economics in Science Fiction” (along with a critique of the common “overproduction” myth), and

* a commentary on one of the most unheralded firsts of the year: basically, the first libertarian-individualist-themed sci-fi film to ever win the Oscar for best picture.

Continue reading The Best of the Blog: Three 2023 posts worth remembering (and rereading)